This invention relates to pipe cutters and, more particularly, to improvements in cutters commonly known as soil pipe cutters.
As is well known, soil pipe cutters employ a chain carrying a plurality of cutting blades or wheels and which chain is wrapped around a pipe and tensioned for severing the pipe. Cutters of this type are particularly useful in cutting brittle pipes such as cast iron soil pipe and clay pipe. Generally, as shown for example in U.S. Pat. No. 2,949,669 to Wheeler and U.S. Pat. No. 3,221,962 to Small, et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 3,283,978 to Coblitz, one end of the chain is fixed to the jaw end of one of a pair of cutter arms which are pivotally interconnected intermediate the jaw ends and the opposite or actuator ends thereof. The chain is then wrapped around a pipe to be cut and the other end of the chain is attached to the jaw end of the other arm. Tension is then applied to the chain by an actuating mechanism operable to relatively displace the actuator ends of the arms in the direction to move the jaw ends toward one another. Any suitable mechanism can be used for the latter purpose and can, for example, include a manually rotatable screw arrangement as shown in the patents to Small, et al. and Coblitz, or a linearly displaceable rod or the like operated through a pressure actuator such as the hydraulic actuator shown in the patent to Wheeler.
Pipe cutters of the foregoing character heretofore available are difficult to carry and manipulate due, in part, to the size and weight thereof and, in some instances, the position of a handle provided for carrying the cutter. Further, the arms and actuating mechanisms in cutters such as those in the above patents are neither designed nor constructed as handles and, accordingly, manipulation of the cutter with respect to positioning the arms and chain relative to a pipe to be cut can be cumbersome as well as uncomfortable for the user. Even if the arm structure is extended beyond the actuator ends thereof to provide a handle, the position or direction of the handle relative to the remainder of the cutter renders carrying and manipulating of the cutter into a position of use both cumbersome and uncomfortable from the standpoint of stresses imposed on the user's wrist. Moreover, these problems can be more pronounced when the user is required to manipulate the cutter in a constricted working space such as a trench. Still further, the structural configuration of the arms and actuating mechanisms in cutters such as those in the above patents render the cutters awkward to carry to and from a site of use and this, together with the structural configurations of the component parts of the cutter can make such carrying uncomfortable for the user.
If one person is going to use a cutter of the foregoing character, the cutter must be held in one hand adjacent to the pipe and the other hand used to wrap the chain around the pipe and to connect the free end of the chain to the jaw end of the other arm of the cutter. The user must then continue to support the cutter with one hand as the actuating mechanism is operated to the extent necessary to secure the cutter in place about the pipe prior to further operating the actuating mechanism to achieve the cutting operation. Operating the actuating mechanism can be an additional problem to the foregoing problems regarding carrying and manipulation of the cutter into its use position relative to a pipe to be cut. In this respect, as will be appreciated for example from the patents to Small, et al., Wheeler and Coblitz mentioned above, the actuating mechanisms are structurally complex and protrude from the actuating ends of the cutter arms. This structure, in addition to adding to the difficulty of manipulating the cutter into position for and then mounting on a pipe to be cut can encumber operation of the actuating mechanism, especially if the cutter is being used in a confined environment. Moreover, operation of the actuating mechanisms in each of the foregoing patents is limited to the use of a single operating member, namely the levers in Small, et al. and Coblitz and the pump unit in Wheeler. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that use of soil pipe cutters heretofore available by one person is awkward and cumbersome as well as uncomfortable in that the cutters are not structured to accommodate the needs of users thereof.